Athletes - Gene Littler

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	Athletes - Gene Littler

Gene (Alec) Littler (born 21 July 1930 in San Diego, California) is an American golfer. A graduate of San Diego State University, he was one of the first of a new breed of college-educated golfers who turned professional after graduation. Littler had a solid temperament and was nicknamed "Gene the Machine" on account of his smooth rhythmical swing. He believed that, "Golf is not a game of great shots. It's a game of the most misses. The people who win make the smallest mistakes."

Career outline

Littler played in the 1953 United States Walker Cup team, and won the U.S. Amateur Championship in the same year. In 1954 he won a PGA Tour event as an amateur, an achievement which was not to be repeated until Scott Verplank won the Western Open in 1985. He also finished runner up at the 1954 U.S. Open. Littler turned professional later in 1954. In 1955 he won four times on the Tour, but by 1958 he was in a slump. After taking advice from Paul Runyon he recovered in 1959 to have his winningmost year with five PGA Tour victories. He finished second on the money list that year, which was to remain his best career placing. He was stricken with cancer of the lymph system in 1972, but came back to win five more times on the PGA Tour. He won 29 times on the PGA Tour in total and he also won two tournaments in Japan and one in Australia.

Littler's only major championship title was the 1961 U.S. Open. He shot a 68 in the final round to overtake Doug Sanders. He accumulated seventeen top ten finishes in the three U.S. based majors: seven at The Masters Tournament, five at the PGA Championship, and five at the U.S. Open. In addition to his U.S. Open victory he had one second place in each of the three U.S. majors, losing playoffs to Billy Casper at the 1970 Masters and to Lanny Wadkins at the 1977 PGA Championship. The latter was the first ever sudden death playoff in a major. He was a member of the U.S. Ryder Cup teams of 1961, 1963, 1965, 1967, 1969, 1971 and 1975 and had a 14-5-8 win/loss/tie record including 5 wins and 3 ties in 10 singles matches.

In the 1980s and 1990s Littler played on the Senior PGA Tour, winning eight times. He was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame in 1990.

PGA Tour wins

1954 San Diego Open
1955 Los Angeles Open, Phoenix Open, Tournament of Champions, Labatt Open
1956 Texas Open Invitational, Tournament of Champions, Palm Beach Round Robin
1957 Tournament of Champions
1959 Phoenix Open Invitational, Tucson Open Invitational, Arlington Hotel Open, Insurance City Open Invitational, Miller Open Invitational
1960 Oklahoma City Open Invitational, Eastern Open Invitational
1961 U.S. Open
1962 Lucky International Open, Thunderbird Classic Invitational
1965 Canadian Open
1969 Phoenix Open Invitational, Greater Greensboro Open
1971 Monsanto Open Invitational, Colonial National Invitational
1973 St. Louis Children's Hospital
1975 Bing Crosby National Pro-Am, Danny Thomas Memphis Classic, Westchester Classic
1977 Houston Open

Champions Tour wins

1983 Daytona Beach Seniors Golf Classic, Greater Syracuse Classic
1984 Senior Seiko/Tucson Match Play Championship
1986 Sunwest Bank Classic, Bank One Senior Golf Classic
1987 NYNEX/Golf Digest Commemorative, Gus Machado Classic
1989 Aetna Challenge

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